Bad guys
have more fun, says literary agent John Cusick, because they bring more diverse pathways to a
story; often there's only one 'right way,' but a myriad of 'wrong ways,' he
says. Maybe that's why John, who prefers the titles Mr. C., Professor C, and
'the Doctor,' once asked his dad for a big fur coat so he could dress as
Batman's villain Penguin for Halloween.
"There
are many ways to be wrong," he says.
The word
villain comes from the French word villein, for 'farm hands,' from back
when the elite ruling class identified all unseemly behavior--stealing, rape,
murder, etc--with the lower class. Over time, of course, the word's unpleasant
connotations became its definition, and the association with manual labor faded
away, John explained.
Now-a-days,
you could classify "villains" into bad guys and antagonists with a
Venn diagram. Your 'bad guy' goes in the left circle; he's anyone in the story
who does bad, or has bad behavior. The right circle holds the literary term
antagonist, who opposes the protagonist or hero.
In class,
John used the diagram to demonstrate that often there's overlap between 'bad
guys' and antagonists, but they aren't always the same person. Dark Lords fall
right in the middle. When Tom Hanks plays a cop against Leo DiCaprio's a thief
protagonist in Catch Me If You Can, Tom falls only in the right circle:
he's a good guy, but he's the antagonist opposing the protag. Johnny Depp in Pirates
of the Carribean generally demonstrates unsavory, bad-guy
characteristics--lying, cheating, misusing women--but he's not the antagonist.
John
defined the protagonist as the character who moves the plot forward--which
would make Darth Vader/Anakin the surprising protagonist of Star Wars. His
plots and actions change the galaxy; everyone else just tries to keep him at
bay. Voldemort, Harry Potter's antagonist, is the only guy with any
initiative in the Harry Potter series, says John. Harry's the focal character,
but not the character moving the plot.
John
introduced a few other character definitions that can help authors organize
their character development. Anti-Heros--like may of Johnny Depp's dark
characters--do wrong, but either work with the hero or serve as the primary
movers towards good against a greater bad. Dramatic foils serve to highlight
aspects of the protagonist. In Spiderman 3, Venom serves as an
antagonist dramatic foil to Spiderman, because he does not choose to overcome
the symbiont suit, demonstrating Spiderman's strength of character in his own
victory over the suit. In Crime and Punishment, each of the prostitute,
the priest, and the protag's best friend highlight a different perspective on
killing, and the protag must watch and navigate their different rights and
wrongs. These other characters--not all antagonists--are his dramatic foils.
While a
villain may recognize himself as a villain--as does Heath Ledger's portrayal of
the Joker, who mocks an evil laugh in the gangster meeting in Batman--you want
to avoid evil for evil's sake, says John. He quotes, "All truly wicked
things start from innocence." In other words, every villain needs an
equally strong motivation as your protagonist's motivation.
We
brainstormed a list of motivations in class:
Evil for
power's sake/greed--like literary agents, says John
Evil for
revenge's sake--Captain Hook
Evil for
envy/jealousy
Evil for
pride
Evil for
the sake of advancing an agenda/making the world a better place
Evil for
lust's sake
Evil for
love's sake
Evil for
the sake of being loved
John explained
that readers can relate to more powerful motivations. Not many readers have
impulses for power or lust for conquering the world, but perhaps they've wanted
to be loved. He warned writers not to stop at a scarring origin story as a
simple explanation for a villain's evil: "The scarred childhood thing is
the foundation of your bad guy house. But it's the successive decisions the
character makes that make him a bad guy and get him to be more complex."
John says
writers should give the villain a motivation that we agree with--"it's the
execution we have a problem with." A husband's love for a wife--a good
thing--in Hansel and Gretel, causes him to cross ethical boundaries. A father's
love for his children--again, a good thing--might cause him to obsess over
their safety until he locks them in a tower forever. In science fiction,
curiosity often becomes a villain motivation, as in Jurassic Park. The villain
should be sympathetic, and become a villain because they cannot modulate their
passion for a good thing to an acceptable limit.
How can we
arouse some sympathy?
The reality
is that most human beings are sympathetic in some way, so it makes a bad guy
more real when you make him more sympathetic. The more human a scary thing is,
the scarier it is, says John, because it is frightening and sad. (On the other
side of the fear spectrum, of course, we find terrors so dark and alien that we
fear them because of the unknown)
Sometimes
we arouse sympathy with something as small as a desire to be loved. All you need
to do is hint at that a villain wants a hug, and that character gains like six
leagues of depth, says John. Insecurity and fear work wonderfully also because
we can relate to them. We can't all relate to the desire for power, but when
the Silence fights Dr. Who because of fear of his powers, we begin to understand.
Childishness and a sense of humor also add sympathy to a bad guy character. An
author may choose to work positive details for the villain anywhere in the
story. Front-loading might strengthen the villain's appeal, but later
revelation of good details might bring powerful surprises.
And once
you know all those, says John, you should forget them. They are tropes--clichés.
He's seen them 1.2 billion times before, and asks that you don't use them, or
use them consciously and twist them.
Here are clichés
he hates:
1. Wearing
black
2. Scars
3.
Well-dressed
4. Foreign
accents
5. Smoking
6. Small
pets
You're in
slightly safer ground with these because of the self-awareness in some bigger
sci fi etc.
But do not
do this, no joking:
7.
cheerleaders/jocks/blondes/hot girls who are just evil/unmotivated bully
Those are
just too easy, he says.
In terms of
villains over a series, John explained how in the first book of a trilogy, the
protagonist will defeat the first villain, but the second book will reveal the
bigger, badder, ACTUAL villain BEHIND Villain 1. That gives the author an
opportunity to really explore the first villain, and in book three, Villain 1
and the hero can team up because Big Boss just has to go. Star Wars does this
well, with Darth Vader in A New Hope, the revelation of Palpatine in The
Empire Strikes Back, and Darth Vader's betrayal of Palpatine in Return
of the Jedi. However, John sees series becoming less popular market-wise right
now. Nevertheless, good trilogies exist, stories with endings that aren't cliff
hangers, but "guitar solos to take us out into the next song."
All of
these tropes, strategies, and definitions should work for the author like a pose-able
doll, says John. The doll means nothing special--just mass-produced
plastic--until the author takes it and tilts the head a little. Pose your
tropes in unique ways. Write your own story. And use bad guys effectively.
Because,
after all, they are more fun that way.
I suspect once I have a published book that might change. So
honestly, I think it’s more important that your spouse or other family
members support you in ways other than reading your work. Do they give
you the time and space you need to write? Do they encourage you to
finish that last chapter or attend that writing conference? Do they
proudly tell everyone they know that you write books and are going to be
a famous author some day? If you can get that kind of support and
encouragement from family, then you’ll be okay. Besides, in most cases
family members aren’t the best judges of your work. They are great as
cheerleaders. But critiquers? Not so much.